Robotics team places first at the Wisconsin State Technical Challenge Competition
The 8680 Kraken Pinion team took first place at the Wisconsin State Technical Challenge Competition held at UW Milwaukee on Feb. 10, 2018. The team competed against 23 other teams, two of which were Homestead’s 4116 Volta Robotics and 7974 Great Scott.
“I’m so proud of our team this year, especially with how quickly the freshmen were able to learn the ropes. We were able to be picked for the fourth place alliance and scored very highly, although not enough,” Emmalee Meinolf, junior on Volta Robotics, said.
Team 8680 Kraken Pinion also set the Wisconsin high score during match two and then broke that record during match 11.
The Great Scott and Volta teams went up against each other in the elimination rounds, where Great Scott’s alliance defeated Volta and advanced to the finals. In match play, Kraken Pinion defeated Great Scott’s alliance and will be the only Homestead team that will compete at the North Super Regional in Cedar Rapids Iowa March 15-17.
“We hope to continue our success all the way to the world competition this year,” Elizabeth Castroverde, freshman, said.
The Great Scott team earned a red trophy and the title “Finalist Alliance” after a celebrated season of winning multiple awards including the Think Award at the Hortonville Regional in January. At the same meet, Volta Robotics earned the Connect Award. Volta Robotics finished 12th in qualifying play and participated in elimination rounds.
Alex Pons, freshman on the Great Scott team, is pleased with the outcome of the competition. “Overall, our team did very well at the meet. We were one of the finalist alliances where we and two other teams got second place,” Pons said.
Kraken Pinion was Captain of the Winning Alliance and will advance to Super Regionals. They also won the Innovate award for the six different robot designs that they created throughout the build season. Currently, the team is building their seventh robot of the year.
“This weekend was a great success for Kraken Pinion,” Castroverde said.
Kate Price is a junior and this is her first year apart of the advanced publications staff. Kate is a major coffee lover and spends the majority of her...
